New Research on Peanut Allergies

Peanut allergies are severe, often affecting children, and are increasing in prevalence. It’s no wonder researchers around the globe are looking at new, inventive ideas for how “cure” them, or at the very least, how to allow those with peanut allergies to tolerate at least a small amount of this legume’s protein.

Allergic Living looks at two of the latest ideas in the labs:

Peanut Allergy Vaccine

Researchers at Mount Sinai and Johns Hopkins University are studying a vaccine for peanut allergies to see if it is safe. The vaccine contains an altered peanut protein to “trick” the immune system. Dr. Scott Sicherer, an associate professor of pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York likens the changed peanut to a baby bracelet that spells “peanut.”

“If you altered that bracelet a little bit, let’s say you changed the ‘A’ in peanut to a ‘D’, then it would say PEDNUT instead of PEANUT,” he says.

The idea is that the person’s immune system won’t recognize “pednut” and won’t mount an allergic reaction to it. However over time, if it sees “pednut” enough, it may learn to tolerate “peanut.”

Once the safety trials for the vaccine, which is administered rectally as a suppository and also contains heat-killed E. coli, are complete, researchers will begin to study if it actually reduces peanut allergy in humans.

The Desensitizing ‘Peanut Patch’

Researchers are also looking at the possibility of desensitizing people with peanut allergies through the skin.

Dr. Hugh Sampson, head of the Consortium of Food Allergy Research in the United States, told Allergic Living magazine that U.S. researchers got the idea from French research, in which scientists have developed immunotherapy patches for cow’s milk allergy.

Those researchers placed a milk-containing patch on dairy-allergic patients every other day for three months. The results were that the patients were able to consume, on average, 12 times more milk without a reaction than they could before the treatment.

This website is based on journalist reporting. The information it contains is meant as general guidance and is not to be interpreted as diagnosis and treatment of individual patient conditions. For such specific medical advice, visit an allergist or pulmonologist.